Wastewater produced by mining, refining, paper manufacturing, power generation, and other industrial processes frequently contains high levels of contaminants like selenium, arsenic, mercury, and nitrates. Government-mandated standards regulating allowable release are becoming increasingly stringent, but traditional physical chemistry methods may not be able to achieve these new limits. Industry needs more effective ways to reduce these contaminants to meet the new standards.
ZVI has recently been used to remove selenium from discharge water. However, ZVI suffers from slow reaction kinetics, poisoning from other contaminants, and particle agglomeration over time. While ZVI is capable of reducing the oxidation state of Se and removing it from solution, the technology has not yet seen widespread adoption. Significant research has also been done in nanoZVI, doping, and related technologies in an effort to mitigate these issues.